Herald Journal,
March 17, 2003

Winsted goal exceeded for metro calling petition

The goal of 260 names on the metro calling petition was
met and exceeded, said Bonnie Quast, who headed the drive for signatures.

More than 300 names adorn the metro calling petition, Quast
said. She spent about a month obtaining signatures.

"People were really great in responding," Quast
said.

Quast is going to go through the list and check for duplicate
names. She gave copies of the petition to other residents to gather signatures,
she said.

Residents that were able to sign were those with a (320)
485 phone number, which included many rural residences.

Metro calling would allow residents and businesses to call
the Twin Cities area without long distance charges. There will be a higher
base rate, however.

Now that the petition is finished, it will then be sent
to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). From there, the PUC will contact
TDS TELECOM and surrounding telephone companies to do a cost study to determine
what the "metro additive," or increase in base fee, would be in
Winsted. After that, a vote would be conducted and 51 percent of the cast
ballots would need to be yes for the service to be approved.